# My cigars all taste the same...bad.



## TMcNasty (Dec 18, 2012)

Hey all,

I'm pretty new to the home humidor/cigar scene and I've run into a pretty unpleasant issue. Hopefully, with the knowledge base here I can get past it quickly and without losing my mind.

If you read my Thompsons Arch Barrel humidor review in the 'Cigar Accessories' forum you might gain some insight. In summary I discovered after about 4 weeks of having this humidor with cigars in it that the built-in digital hygrometer was reading too low...about 9-10% too low in fact. Since that hygro was displaying 70-72% for that month that means the internal humidity was closer to 80% that whole time.

I've removed my humidifier and have slowly been bleeding off my excess humidity for the last week by opening the lid for a little while each day. A new (and calibrated Hygroset II) has been helping me do this. Right now that unit is laying on my top shelf (no cigars near it) and is reading 69F/69% so I've gotten it down to a more acceptable range. I'm shooting for 65% in the end as I've read this seems to be 'better' than the ol' 70/70 rule.

I've had a variety of cigars in it from Thompsons that whole time as well as some I've purchased locally at Holt's maybe 2-3 weeks ago. The only cigars I've smoked out of my humidor that I really enjoyed were the Holt's ones...and that was only shortly after I'd bought them. After 2-3 weeks in my 'care' even they don't taste right. And they are from their CA sampler so there's Padron Exclusivo maduros, Rocky Patel 15th Anni's, etc in the mix.

Basically anything I smoke now has a bad taste to it. And what's even stranger to me is this bad taste makes all of the cigars taste the same in a way. It's a sour taste that kind of coats my whole mouth. That taste is the dominant one and basically covers up the unique flavors of the various smokes.

Is this just a standard case of overly-humidified cigars? Is say ~75% or so humidity so serious that it could make even a Padron 1964 Exclusivo Maduro be made to be unenjoyable? Because I just finished one now and I have to confess I didn't really enjoy it much. And I've had enough of those to know this one was not right.
Is it just a matter of keeping these at 65% for a few weeks or a month to fix them? Could it be something else like an improperly fermented cigar in there tainting the rest of them?

Thanks in advance.


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## tpharkman (Feb 20, 2010)

It sounds like a humidity problem causing the taste for sure. It takes an amazingly long time for cigars to significantly lower rh in my opinion. I would give them at least 30 days if not 60 to 90 to start smoking well again.

I don't think one cigar can taint the rest of them...unless it is a Gurhblah...lol!!

Patience is your friend in this situation.


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## TMcNasty (Dec 18, 2012)

Thanks tp. I actually have a small delivery on the way from Thompson including some Padron 1926 #6 M's. I'm actually afraid to put them in this humi even though the humidity is acceptable now. Is that abnormal of me?


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## Mante (Dec 25, 2009)

Thad has it. Sour notes usually mean the cigars are over humidified so give them plenty of time to come down to where you want them.


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## nikesupremedunk (Jun 29, 2012)

Yea most likely caused by high humidity. Like Thad said, the humidity on the wrapper may drop in a few days, but the humidity inside the cigar is still probably very high. I would let it sit 2-3 months and see if that helps. 

When I first started, I had humidity problems as well. It took a couple months for the cigars to return to normal from being way over humidified. I would start by getting some HF beads (65%) if you have not already done so, but don't lose hope, they will return to tasting good again, just needs some time.


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## FWTX (Feb 9, 2011)

tpharkman said:


> Patience is your friend in this situation.


WORD

This is going to take some time Thomas - you need to read up on storage, humidity, digital hygrometers - and letting cigars set @ 65% for weeks and months on end.
Just the way it is...


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## pittjitsu (Mar 30, 2012)

Add those new cigars to the humi. They will provide a medium for your excess moisture to dissipate. Also, as suggested, some dry heartfelt beads or kitty litter will speed up the process. I wouldn't try one again for 90 days. I would stick to smoking your newly arived sticks.


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## Andrewdk (Feb 3, 2011)

+1 to all of the above. Any over humidified stick I've had was terrible. Usually any new stock waits 2-6 weeks to be consumed in my humi. Beads or litter are great to soak up excess RH. Done it before myself.


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## TMcNasty (Dec 18, 2012)

OK gents I used my need for kitty litter as an excuse to go to Pet Smart. Found the ExquisiCat unscented. Wifey got to pick up a new litter scoop and my baby girl got to pet the doggies. Very good.
So in the aquarium section I found a nice mesh media bag (3"x8"), filled it, and have it laying on the top shelf next to my Hygroset II. The hygroset is already reading lower than when the bag was put in an hour ago. 65% now vs. 71% when installed.
I'm going to read up here re: using KL, but real quick just wanted to ask if you guys think I should spritz these with water a bit before installing or put them in dry given my current situation?
Also, what RH do these beads tend to stabilize a humidor at? Or can that be made to vary depending on how often you spritz them?
Thanks,
TM


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## TMcNasty (Dec 18, 2012)

...


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## capttrips (Jun 25, 2012)

Dry for now. See where you are at in 36 hrs and go from there.


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## Andrewdk (Feb 3, 2011)

Go dry they can absorb the excess RH if it drops spritz them but be patient the hygro may be reading lower but there may still be excess RH soaked into the wood.


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## TMcNasty (Dec 18, 2012)

Very well. Thx fellas.


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## pittjitsu (Mar 30, 2012)

TMcNasty said:


> OK gents I used my need for kitty litter as an excuse to go to Pet Smart. Found the ExquisiCat unscented. Wifey got to pick up a new litter scoop and my baby girl got to pet the doggies. Very good.
> So in the aquarium section I found a nice mesh media bag (3"x8"), filled it, and have it laying on the top shelf next to my Hygroset II. The hygroset is already reading lower than when the bag was put in an hour ago. 65% now vs. 71% when installed.'
> I'm going to read up here re: using KL, but real quick just wanted to ask if you guys think I should spritz these with water a bit before installing or put them in dry given my current situation?
> Also, what RH do these beads tend to stabilize a humidor at? Or can that be made to vary depending on how often you spritz them?
> ...


Leave them dry for now. Your goal is to get the moisture out of the deep core of the cigars. The only way to achieve that is to starve the dryer outer layers of water, causing the dryer tobacco to draw moisture from the wetter center. Again, this will take lots of time before the whole sticks even out. I wouldn't add moisture to those beads until the hygrometer reads 60 RH. Hold it at 60 for a couple of weeks, then spritz them. Your goal is to have the entire stick the same r.h. of 65%.


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## TMcNasty (Dec 18, 2012)

Good thing I have 50 cigars being delivered this week to tide me over during this waiting period. Let's hope I don't manage to waterlog those as I wait.


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

Thing you want to do is to ensure that the cat litter is actually well below the current RH. Cat litter in a pet store can and will absorb whatever humidity surrounds it. Test the cat litter by itself with a calibrated hygrometer for two days in a sealed container. Start from there.

To prove these guys right, you can try dry boxing a few sticks. While this is typically done simply to dry out the wrapper for a more even burn, it will give you a little proof that indeed humidity is the culprit. Put a few sticks in a 50-55% box for two weeks and smoke. That will tell you if you're on the right track, which I suspect you are.

Good luck!


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## tpharkman (Feb 20, 2010)

My experience with kitty litter is that right out of the bag it seems to be around 60 to 62 rh...anyone else experience this?? If I bake it down correctly I can get it around 47 to 50 percent.


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## TMcNasty (Dec 18, 2012)

Yeah I was just thinking something like that Herf. Did a little more reading in one of the kitty litter threads. I see that this stuff likes to be baked and microwaved to be dried out eh? I'll test a sample overnight.
I presume if I'm in a low humidity environment...like NJ in winter...I could just leave some out flat on a counter and let them dry naturally. Or does that method take too long? It's 40% RH in my home right now.


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## TonyBrooklyn (Jan 28, 2010)

TMcNasty said:


> Yeah I was just thinking something like that Herf. Did a little more reading in one of the kitty litter threads. I see that this stuff likes to be baked and microwaved to be dried out eh? I'll test a sample overnight.
> I presume if I'm in a low humidity environment...like NJ in winter...I could just leave some out flat on a counter and let them dry naturally. Or does that method take too long? It's 40% RH in my home right now.


If the R/H in your home is 40 open the humidor and let the cigars and box dry out open it for an hour a day put no humidification media in there till the hygro reads what R/H you want!
And Thad is right i bake my litter so i may store my Cubans under 60%!


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## TMcNasty (Dec 18, 2012)

I have been opening it daily, but not for an hour. That's how I got it down to 70% from the upper-70's in a week. I didn't know if there was such a thing as too fast for dehumidifying sticks so I took it 'easy.' My humidor is reading 65% with the mesh bag of KL in there...an instant 5% drop in one hour. My KL sample in the ziplock (overnight test in progress) is currently reading 56%.


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## pittjitsu (Mar 30, 2012)

TMcNasty said:


> Good thing I have 50 cigars being delivered this week to tide me over during this waiting period. Let's hope I don't manage to waterlog those as I wait.


As I said, Add those new sticks to the humi in question, It will help even out the humidity on all your sticks provided that the shipper didn't send them to you "wet". Even so, your new KL should wick away the excess moisture on the new sticks as well. Most of us here, aside from maybe trying one new stick ROTT, will rest our new shipments for a min of a couple of weeks and up to a few months. If this hobby teaches you anything, it's patience! Time is your friend when it comes to cigars. By the way, I have that same humi (great deal for the $) and my interior zykar hydros read 68 while the digital mounted to the face is reading 51%. I never thought about the holes not lining up, did opening it up help the accuracy?


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## TMcNasty (Dec 18, 2012)

pittjitsu said:


> Add those new sticks to the humi in question, It will help even out the humidity on all your sticks provided that the shipper didn't send them to you "wet".


Will do, but I am gonna keep 'em in a ziplock overnight with my Hygroset to make sure they didn't arrive at 80% themselves. 


pittjitsu said:


> By the way, I have that same humi (great deal for the $) and my interior zykar hydros read 68 while the digital mounted to the face is reading 51%. I never thought about the holes not lining up, did opening it up help the accuracy?


I think it did, but only by a couple %-age points. I've been draining humidity ever since I drilled that hole so it's tough to say. Just be warned if u do it your drill bit it going to come out right on the cedar divider that holds the humidifier. Mine cracked a little, but no big deal.


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## Damselnotindistress (Aug 7, 2011)

I've been a cigar lover and buyer of numerous humidors for over 25 years, yet I STILL find there are things I need to learn, and benefit greatly from the advice on this forum, and so on. One question: do you leave your cigars inside of or immediately remove the cellophane (when they come with one)? I began regularly removing the cello and letting them sit in the humidor -and with varying (usually not too desirable) results in humidification. I KEPT having either too humidified or not humidified enough problems. What I've learned here and greatly benefited from is to just leave the cigars inside the cello and open the bottom end of it then slide the cigar toward the bottom. That has helped A LOT for me in retaining their original flavor. When I overhumidified my cigars I was advised to dry box them for about two months and they'd regain their flavor again - that was what happened with my non-cello'd smokes. Also -eh ahem - can we suggest some OTHER cigar brands to try in addition to your Thompson's smokes!? Hope some help and hope no offense taken at cigar suggestions in addition to...!


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## TMcNasty (Dec 18, 2012)

No offense taken Damsel. Many/most of my smokes are from Thompsons auction site, but most aren't their brands. Today I just received:
Top Drawer Sampler (Arturo Fuente, Rocky Patel, Alec Bradley & Belmondo) - 10 Cigars 
Cosechero Maduro (5" x 50) Robusto - 5 Pack 
Don Lugo (7" x 50) Churchill - 5 Pack
Flor de Dominguez Maduro by Victor Sinclair (7" x 50) Churchill - 5 Pack 
Encore Connecticut (7" x 50) Churchill - 5 Pack 
Alec Bradley Select Cabinet Reserve (7" x 48") Churchill - 5 Pack 
Liga Privada Undercrown by Drew Estates (5" x 54) Robusto - 5 Pack 
Padron 1926 Serie No. 6 Maduro (4 3/4" x 50) Robusto - Box of 10

Just had one of the Liga's right out of the box. Man WHAT AN IMPROVEMENT over what I've been getting out of my humi lately. Quite a delicious little smoke I have to say! My first one.
What I did (because this Chinese humidor scares me still) was take one of each of the above and put them into the humi (which is now reading 68deg/64%. Imho no odd flavors should develop under these conditions. I'm going to keep the rest of my delivery in either a big ziplock or tupperware (with a Hygroset) and let the other ones rest in my humidor for a few weeks. That's how long it took a 16 cigar sampler I bought locally from Holt's to get that sour taste.
I fully expect nothing bad to develop w/ the new ones I just put in my humi now that it's drier, but you never know. If they all get acrid tasting at least I didn't put the whole batch of 50 new ones in there. Especially the Padrons! 
For all I know this humidor is made with some funked out MDF...or the foam in the humidifier it came with is somehow no good.
Maybe I'm just being overly cautious, but it won't harm my new batch to sit in a properly humidified ziplock/tupperware for 2-3 weeks as I run this experiment.
fwiw all the cigars in my new delivery are reading 65% so far in my ziplock w/ Hygroset in it. And other than the Padron's they are all individually cello'd. This test also lets me confirm Thompson's isn't shipping out wet cigars. Tampa is well above the ~65% mark by default with regards to humidity.
Stay tuned!


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## TMcNasty (Dec 18, 2012)

Well good news on this front. Last night I smoked an Oliva Serie V Melanio Churchill out of this humidor. This was one of the newest cigars to enter my overhumidified humidor. It probably only spent about 10 days in the overhumidified box before I originally figured this problem out. It has spent the last two weeks at ~63% (thanks Boveda!) and the prior 2-3 weeks at under 70%. I'd like to assume anything from that mid-December delivery is ok to smoke now. We'll see. This wasn't the greatest cigar I've had, but that whole 'sour mouth' taste wasn't there. I could actually taste the flavors of this stick and compare it to other properly stored sticks I've had.
It was easy to not smoke from my humidor. I've been getting sick all of January with this stomach flu crap running around. Probably had 2 cigars all month.
Oddly enough on Friday night I had a Padron 1926 Serie No. 6 Maduro that I received in my final Thompson order received 1/8 or so. That whole order of 50 smokes has only been in a tupperdor that's been at 70% the whole time. Never in my humidor. The 50 cigars alone caused that 70% condition. No other humidity was added. They're just in there along w/ some cedar sheets and a Hygroset II. I can't lie that cigar had that 'flavor' I complained about in post #1.
Man are these things really that sensitive to humidity levels? 70% for a few weeks (and obviously longer down in Thompson's warehouse) makes them taste like crap, but 63% or so for a few weeks and everything's all better?
I have these same Padrons (among others that are tupperdor'd) in my 63% humidor as well. They've been there the whole time. Guess I'll have to smoke the tupperdors vs. the humidors back-to-back to see if cigars are really this touchy. I never got the impression that 70% made smokes 'bad' from my reading here, but I'm starting to just from experience. I think I'm suddenly one of those 60-65% guys.


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## TMcNasty (Dec 18, 2012)

Just finished a Padron 1964 exclusivo maduro that's only been in my humidor since new. That means it got the full overhumidification treatment as well as at least a month at 63% and 70% for a month prior to that. I'd say it's about 85-90% fixed. A slight sour taste was present, but I could taste the standard Padron flavors for the most part. You guys weren't kidding when you said these things could take a long time to give up their extra humidity and taste better. I was starting to get worried. The bulk of my pricey smokes went thru this overhumidified thing. Glad they're coming back. Consider me a lifetime 65% Boveda pack user now!


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## TMcNasty (Dec 18, 2012)

Smoked an Alec Bradley Prensado robusto last night. These are my oldest smokes (11/2012). They also went thru the full over-humidified issue. This one was actually quite tasty. Even better than the ones I had when I first got them in November. They're from Thompson so I know they came to me at 70%. More recent cigar orders have confirmed this when stored separately in their own tupperdor w/ a Hygroset II.
Starting to become a big fan of the 60-65% humidity "movement."


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## Thedroller (Mar 12, 2013)

This happened to me also..too many sticks on top tray. Top read 63%, but underneath with the credo, (glass top Bally) was like 80%. There was even some very soggy mold from the credo to the headsof churchills right in front of it. I cleans it and threw theaffected sticks into an empty cedar box for 2 days. They were perfectly smokable, even draw was razor straight


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## Carpenter69 (Mar 5, 2013)

TMcNasty said:


> Smoked an Alec Bradley Prensado robusto last night. These are my oldest smokes (11/2012). They also went thru the full over-humidified issue. This one was actually quite tasty. Even better than the ones I had when I first got them in November. They're from Thompson so I know they came to me at 70%. More recent cigar orders have confirmed this when stored separately in their own tupperdor w/ a Hygroset II.
> Starting to become a big fan of the 60-65% humidity "movement."


I just recently took all my cigars to 65% with heartfelt beads. Let me tell ya my stuff has never tasted better or smoked nicer. I thought 65 was just for cc's. The trick for me was putting the beads in and letting them do their job. It took me a while to get it right. I got alot of help from the fellas on the forums, if it wasn't for them I'd be out 1000's in cigars.


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## Carpenter69 (Mar 5, 2013)

Shoot me your addy at mdfconst at yahoo dot com. I'd like to give ya a couple smokes with some age on them. No strings, I want nothing in return, but for you to enjoy them. This message is for tcmcnasty.


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## Bobajob (Dec 14, 2012)

I take a couple sticks out the humi and let them kick around for 5 days. It worked for me when I was over wet.


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## Bobajob (Dec 14, 2012)

Carpenter69 said:


> Shoot me your addy at mdfconst at yahoo dot com. I'd like to give ya a couple smokes with some age on them. No strings, I want nothing in return, but for you to enjoy them. This message is for tcmcnasty.


Cue mysteriously large numbers of addresses incoming...


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## Stryver77 (Mar 12, 2013)

Okay so I live in Georgia where it is always humid. I have 2 humidors. My 100 count reads a constant 70% RH, my larger 300 count reads a constant 75% RH. When I asked my local cigar shop owner if 75% was good, he said, "Yes, but that is the max you want it to go." I have only had a few unwrapped cigars taste funny (by funny, I mean, like sucking on a humidifier), but everything else was good. 
I upgraded to some Xicar gel bead humidifiers and got their PG solution at 50/50 mix. I used the PG solution for 2 refills. After the 2nd time using the PG solution, my cigars tasted like plastic or battery acid. I did some reading and found out that PG solution can give your cigars that kind of taste. so I took out my humidifier and let the solution evaporate and replaced it in the humidor with distilled water for the last couple of refills and that seems to have gotten rid of that plastic taste. So for now on I am going to use PG solution every other refill.
So my humidors are still holding the same RH as before and so far the cigars are good. I can't decide if I want to lower the humidity levels or not. Anyone here live in my kind of environment and give me some tips?


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